THE COMING ECONOMIC UPSWING IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK - prepare now to boost sales!

Read This and Get Prepared

McKinsey just released an intriguing article The upturn--sooner rather than later? on the upcoming economic recovery, with a thought provoking graph that shouts at you -

"IT'S COMING SOONER THAN LATER, IT WILL HAPPEN QUICKLY AND BY THE TIME IT IS NEWS, IT WILL BE TOO LATE... you'll have missed the early big push.

What do you need to have in place to take advantage of coming upswing... to not miss it?  What I'm going to suggest is going to surprise you.

Let's see now, what's on your short list for not missing the coming upswing? You might be thinking:

• Getting the next product complete, or
• Maybe it's a new distribution channel, or JV partner,
• Maybe you've got your eye on an emerging or under-served market
• Hiring new sales staff

In fact, all those things can be critically important to take advantage of before they pass in a hungry world market, that is going to jump at good news. 

Guess what, all those options miss one very fundamental key. 

They are all outward focused.  So just in case you're over-looking this area, I wanted to get this update out to you in March, because it looks like things are already starting to pick up.

Here it is, in one word. 

The secret, the key, the ace in the hole, the rocket you need in place, tuned up and ready to go...  is CRM software.

What?

More specifically it is this:

1.Get the right sales people on the bus, in place, focusing on where they can deliver best, and this next one is even more important...

2.Having the right CRM in place.

Bet you never saw that one coming, especially from someone who runs a software company.  Let me explain.  Well let me first share a common story we see.

We sell Advantage CRM into organizations all over South Africa.  People like you and me buy it because they want their sales and service workforce to function more effectively, coordinate and collaborate better.  They want everyone to work in a more organized, head's-up strategic manner.  You get the idea.  And as you probably know, no software is going to make people work that way.  Software is an enabler, not the magic, silver bullet that suddenly transforms people's work habits. 

So guess what happens when we deploy into an organization?  Some of the people we train aren't prepared to practice working more effectively, and they begin demonstrating to us that an effective work ethic isn't in place, and it's absence is holding up the growth of the company.   You have people operating with dysfunctional attitudes about work in your company as well, and yes they will impede your ability to ride the next upswing.

Do you know what kind of work framework or work ethic I'm talking about?  I'm talking about something deceptively simple but vital, and one that you would be willing to back up by telling people to get off the bus or move to the back if they aren't willing to follow. 

That work agreement (ethic), the very same one that is going to position you to take advantage of the upcoming economic swing, looks something like the following 3 guidelines (by the way my favorite reference for this is Dibachi's book Just Add Management).  Stop and consider how your team would rate:

THREE  POINT CONTRACT

1.   The Basic Deal:
             You get paid for... delivering timely results, do the work assigned and respect people (including authority;)...  You don't get paid for "being too busy, rationalizing why you can't, etc.

2.  The Basic Relationship:
              Someone(s) is your boss and that relationship isn't equal.  That means that ultimately you do things according to their priority, follow their plan, use their suggestions, their tools, and do it right.

3.   Work Smart:
             Leverage information where-ever you can, maximize its useability and repurposing, look for and practice improvements. Use you Advantage CRM system rigorously.  Work like improving is equivalent to surviving - stop one and you stop the other.

Bottom Line:

Don't miss out on the upcoming economic swing.  One of the best things, if not the best thing, you can do in your organization to get ready to take advantage of the upcoming surge is to get the right people and the right CRM Software in place.  Oh sure we want you to enable those people with our Advantage CRM software but you need to get the PEOPLE thing right.  Call us at ... we can help you with both.